Title |
First Evidence for a Massive Extinction Event Affecting Bees Close to the K-T Boundary
|
---|---|
Published in |
PLOS ONE, October 2013
|
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0076683 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Sandra M. Rehan, Remko Leys, Michael P. Schwarz |
Abstract |
Bees and eudicot plants both arose in the mid-late Cretaceous, and their co-evolutionary relationships have often been assumed as an important element in the rise of flowering plants. Given the near-complete dependence of bees on eudicots we would expect that major extinction events affecting the latter would have also impacted bees. However, given the very patchy distribution of bees in the fossil record, identifying any such extinctions using fossils is very problematic. Here we use molecular phylogenetic analyses to show that one bee group, the Xylocopinae, originated in the mid-Cretaceous, coinciding with the early radiation of the eudicots. Lineage through time analyses for this bee subfamily show very early diversification, followed by a long period of seemingly no radiation and then followed by rapid diversification in each of the four constituent tribes. These patterns are consistent with both a long-fuse model of radiation and a massive extinction event close to the K-T boundary. We argue that massive extinction is much more plausible than a long fuse, given the historical biogeography of these bees and the diversity of ecological niches that they occupy. Our results suggest that events near the K-T boundary would have disrupted many plant-bee relationships, with major consequences for the subsequent evolution of eudicots and their pollinators. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 13 | 16% |
United Kingdom | 13 | 16% |
Australia | 6 | 7% |
Netherlands | 5 | 6% |
Canada | 4 | 5% |
Spain | 3 | 4% |
Germany | 3 | 4% |
Colombia | 1 | 1% |
Argentina | 1 | 1% |
Other | 6 | 7% |
Unknown | 27 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 62 | 76% |
Scientists | 17 | 21% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 3 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 3 | 3% |
Germany | 2 | 2% |
Colombia | 1 | 1% |
New Zealand | 1 | 1% |
France | 1 | 1% |
Japan | 1 | 1% |
Spain | 1 | 1% |
Unknown | 82 | 89% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 25 | 27% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 11 | 12% |
Student > Bachelor | 10 | 11% |
Student > Master | 9 | 10% |
Professor | 6 | 7% |
Other | 17 | 18% |
Unknown | 14 | 15% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 54 | 59% |
Earth and Planetary Sciences | 7 | 8% |
Environmental Science | 6 | 7% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 5 | 5% |
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine | 1 | 1% |
Other | 4 | 4% |
Unknown | 15 | 16% |